Skills Council of Canada is pleased to announce its partnership with ENAGB Indigenous Youth Agency, working in collaboration with ENAGB's leadership to build the next generation of Indigenous youth leaders.

The ENAGB Indigenous Youth Agency focuses on providing cultural, employment, life skills, holistic wellness, and recreational opportunities to Indigenous youth ages 12-29. Their programming is designed through Indigenous youth participation and works to build self-esteem, confidence, skills, and self-determination. Though this partnership, Skills Council of Canada intends to support further development of ENAGB's peer outreach program that will also include access to their skills-to-employment programs and opportunities able to support ENAGB's 2,000 youth members.

Skills Council of Canada's CSE Skills-to-Employment program has the potential to provide significant benefits for Indigenous youth through access to skills development materials and resources from anywhere, at any time, and at their own pace. This kind of access is particularly beneficial for Indigenous youth who live in remote or isolated communities.

ENAGB is working with Skills Council of Canada to ensure programs being offered can support Indigenous youth not only with skills development, but also preserving and promoting Indigenous languages and cultures within their skills to employment pathways. Skills Council of Canada is supporting the Youth Connect program and has provided funding towards acquiring technology, workspaces, and supporting 10 youth leaders with their peer outreach efforts. Skills Council of Canada will also provide access, training, and mentorship to these youth leaders who will manage their own branded ENAGB skills-to-employment platform. Through this platform and with the help of their peer leaders, their young community members will have access to 1,000s of skills development resources, mentors, tutors, career councillors, career explorational resources and more. The youth leaders will help their peers build skills, pride, ownership, and identity among Indigenous youth, which is imperative to their overall well-being and success.

"The support from Skills Council of Canada could not come at a better time for the youth. As we continue to grow as an organization it was our youth's vision to offer our own employment services, and this partnership has allowed us to create a robust Employment Services Department to support our communities. Chi Miigwech (Huge Thank You) goes out to our allies" said Cynthia Bell - Executive Director of ENAGB.

Skills Council of Canada has been working on the development a Youth Connect program focused on Indigenous communities. Over time the organization realized they needed to be a supporting partner in this initiative and Indigenous youth should be the ones leading the way. When Skills Council of Canada was introduced to ENAGB through their relationship with the Aboriginal Apprenticeship Board of Ontario, a shared desire for collaboration sparked a conversation about the future of the Youth Connect program. After the initial meeting, both organizations saw the synergies to work together, leveraging ENAGB's experiences and network of youth and Skills Council of Canada's plans to help empower youth to take lead in their own career development.

"We recognize the power that youth have to change the world, to shape it into a better place to be for future generations. That is why we are committed to youth development efforts and why we are so excited to be working hand in hand with the ENAGB team. We are excited to watch this program grow and witness the amazing development and evolution of these young communities." said Kate O'Neil, VP of Partnerships for Skills Council of Canada.

To learn more about Skills Council of Canada's Indigenous Youth Connect program, please visit the Youth Skills Council's website at https://www.youthskillscouncil.com/

About Skills Council of Canada Inc.

Skills Council of Canada Inc. (Skills Council of Canada) based in Ottawa, Ontario is a social impact focused organization building holistic integrated solutions that support Canada's Sustainable Development Goals with a prime focus on education-to-employment. Operating in collaboration with Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations, Skills Council of Canada promotes skills development for: the development of good health / well-being, access to quality education and equal employment, gender equality, access to clean drinking water, affordable clean energy, decent work for economic growth, innovative technology ecosystems, infrastructure, reducing inequality, sustainable communities, and developing partnerships required to support these efforts.

Skills Council of Canada's Collaborative Support Ecosystem (CSE) includes thousands of skills courses, thousands of job role assessments and subject based assessments, access to thousands of one-on-one mentors, tutors, career counselling, wellness coaches, and so much more, all managed on Skills Council of Canada's robust learning management system. The CSE program also enables Skills Council of Canada to provide their entire offering for free to all participants and partners.

‍About ENAGB Indigenous Youth Agency

The ENAGB Youth Program was originally housed and overseen under an Indigenous organization since 2012, unfortunately, with no fault of the youth it took a turn for the worse. However, the youth aspired to rebuild from $0.00 as an independent when they received their non-profit status in 2018. ENAGB is under the leadership of a Youth Council and Board of Directors. The ENAGB Indigenous Youth Agency, Youth Council is headed by nine Indigenous youth members (ages 12 to 29); they are elected to their positions at an Annual Planning Session. It is also overseen by a Board of Directors, composed of Indigenous youth (ages 18+); they are elected to their positions each September.

ENAGB helps to prepare Indigenous youth (12-29 years of age) to make ethical choices by instilling youth with values that stem from Indigenous knowledge with special recognition to the teachings of the Medicine Wheel to foster self-honor and confidence as future leaders and caretakers of the people. ENAGB also coordinates the delivery of programs and services for children (0-6 years of age) and their families through the ENAGB EarlyON Child and Family Centre.

For further information about the company, please visit https://enagb-iya.ca/.